Less Than A Newb Here, Need help with the 975EE

[SeriousGamer]

Okay, first let me start by saying I'm trying to learn from the many guides that have been posted, reading hundreds of threads across many sites but still can't seem to make sense of this so any help would be most appreciated. I have tried to follow the three step guide on here, but still just can't figure it out.

The machine: I literally tried to purchase what I thought to be the best of everything at the time, only in further research did I learn that the EE was probably not necessary and likely overkill for my goals. I don't upgrade my systems often so I spend more up front and try to get as much as possible out of them for as long as I can.

Here is the spec list (Not sure what is relevant what is not so posting it all):

EVGA X58 Classified 3X SLI
2x EVGA 295GTX (SLI)
1x EVGA 9800GT (PhysX)
12GB Kingston DDR3-2000 Memory
Intel 975 EE CPU

Cooling: Full EK Water blocks on 295's (Front & Rear) and EK Full Board Block, Swiftech Apogee CPU Block, 6x 150CFM Fans over 3 Radiators in push/pull.

I have the machine assembled, win 7 x64 installed but I can't get windows to boot when the overclock is applied.

Goal: 5Ghz stable.

Where do I start? I've tried to get to 4.2 and it holds in bios, but windows hangs where it says Starting windows and never moves.

Thank you in advance,
SeriousGamer

 

[Airbornederekc]

If you are in the return window for that proc do it and get a 6 core that just launched. same price.

 

[gear.h34d.2012]

Well first off, to OCF. Glad to have you here.

Second, on a personal note you sir have a bad *** system. Just sayin'.


I don't know much about Water cooling as I've never ventured down that road, but granted you have everything set up correctly it should be fine. I'm assuming (I know assuming is bad, so sue me ) since you mentioned Windows hanging in Overclock that everything works fine stock so have you checked all of your voltages and timings? What about your cabling? Power supply? (I'm no expert, but I try)

Sorry for the generic reply but just wanted to get this started down the road to resolution.

 

[SeriousGamer]

If you are in the return window for that proc do it and get a 6 core that just launched. same price.

I am passed the return period, but I am about to build a second rig of this caliber for my office use and intend to go with the 980X

Well first off, to OCF. Glad to have you here.

Second, on a personal note you sir have a bad *** system. Just sayin'.


I don't know much about Water cooling as I've never ventured down that road, but granted you have everything set up correctly it should be fine. I'm assuming (I know assuming is bad, so sue me ) since you mentioned Windows hanging in Overclock that everything works fine stock so have you checked all of your voltages and timings? What about your cabling? Power supply? (I'm no expert, but I try)

Sorry for the generic reply but just wanted to get this started down the road to resolution.

Hi,

First, Thank You. Second, I am so OCD about water cooling that I ran the entire loop for 72 hours straight on my test bench before putting any blocks to cards to ensure no leaks etc... PSU is a Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W so I believe it should have enough juice.

You're correct, everything boots up as stock, but only hangs when the overclock is applied. I can only assume that something is wrong in the overclock settings hence the reasons for this post

 

[gear.h34d.2012]

Alright, well 1200w is definitely enough power, so that honestly from my limited knowledge leads me to believe that you have mismatched or "incorrectly" set something voltage/timings/Vcore wise. When you were overclocking you had your memory set at manufacturers rated speeds and voltage yes? If so then you began the CPU overclock in stable increments? What did you get to pre-3.2Ghz where Windows hangs?

 

[SeriousGamer]

Alright, well 1200w is definitely enough power, so that honestly from my limited knowledge leads me to believe that you have mismatched or "incorrectly" set something voltage/timings/Vcore wise. When you were overclocking you had your memory set at manufacturers rated speeds and voltage yes? If so then you began the CPU overclock in stable increments? What did you get to pre-3.2Ghz where Windows hangs?

Well, I unfortunately cleared CMOS so I don't know which guide I was following now or the settings.... doh!

I tried to jump right from factory clock to 4.2 as everything I read advised that this chip should handle that *easily* especially with my water cooling.

What do you recommend I start with? There seems to be a few different ways to overclock, I'd like one that allows me to maximize voltage efficiency and stability.

right this minute, I have left nearly everything in Auto except:

Clock Ratio: 26X
Host Freq (bclk?) 160
Mem Freq : 800mhz (2:6)
Timings manually set to 9-9-9-24

That shows 4.12Ghz in Bios, but windows hangs at "Starting Windows"

Thanks for the help and speedy replies!

 

[gear.h34d.2012]

What do you recommend I start with?

Clock Ratio: 26X
Host Freq (bclk?) 160
Mem Freq : 800mhz (2:6)
Timings manually set to 9-9-9-24

Thanks for the help and speedy replies!

Well since you cleared, let's take this step by step. I'm assuming that your manual settings you have there are appropriate given the build of the RAM. I trust you

As for something to start with, check out out very own MIAHALLEN's guide to it. Definitely worth a read. If you follow it verbatim, you should be fine because you're absolutely right. Your processor alongside your cooling setup should easily hit 4.2Ghz. If it's still a no go, hopefully it'll give us some clues as to whats really going on here.

Best of luck and keep us posted. Remember broham, Persistence is key!

 

[||Console||]

Try smaller steps dont aim for 5 right away . start @ 4 then work up more slowly

 

[SeriousGamer]

NVM Found it.

 

[MIAHALLEN]

First off to OCF...you're found a new home

I have tried to follow the three step guide on here, but still just can't figure it out.

Can you be more specific?

You're correct, everything boots up as stock, but only hangs when the overclock is applied. I can only assume that something is wrong in the overclock settings hence the reasons for this post

Can you tell me specifically, at what settings you ended up during your OCing in each step of my three step guide?

NVM Found it.

Found what?

 

[SeriousGamer]

Okay,

Need some help again. I have what I think is a good setup as far as BIOS is concerned, but still windows hangs, I thought perhaps I needed to reinstall but it hangs when trying to load from the DVD.

Here is the entire setup.

[B]Frequency Control[/B]
CPU Clock Ratio (21X) 
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) (210) 
MCH Strap (Auto) 
CPU Uncore Frequency (Mhz) (Auto) 
CPU Clock Skew (0 ps)
Spread Spectrum (Disabled) 
PCIE Frequency (Mhz) (100)

[B]Memory Feature[/B]
Memory Speed (Standard) 
Memory Control Setting (Enabled) 
Memory Frequency (1067Mhz / 2:8) 
Channel Interleave Setting (6 Way) 
Rank Interleave Setting (4 Way) 
Memory Low Gap (Auto) 
tCL Setting ( 9 ) 
tRCD Setting ( 9 ) 
tRP Setting ( 9 ) 
tRAS Setting ( 24 ) 
tRFC Setting ( 88 ) 
Command Rate ( 2t )

[B]Voltage Control [/B]
EVGA VDroop Control (Without VDroop) 
CPU VCore (1.325v) 
CPU VTT Voltage (+300mv) 
CPU PLL VCore (1.905v)
IOH PLL VCore (Auto) 
QPI PLL VCore (1.325v) 
DIMM Voltage (1.65v) 
IOH VCore (1.325v) 
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage (1.625v) 
ICH VCore (1.225v) 
VTT PWM Frequency (490 KHZ) 
CPU PWM Frequency (940 KHZ) 
CPU Impedance (Auto) 
QPI Signal Compensation (Auto)

CPU Feature
Intel SpeedStep (Disabled)
Turbo Mode Function (Disabled) 
CxE Function (Disabled) 
Execute Disable Bit (Disabled) 
Virtualization Technology (Disabled) 
Intel HT Technology (Enabled) 
Active Processor Cores (All) 
QPI Control Settings (Enabled) 
QPI Link Fast Mode (Enabled) 
QPI Frequency Selection (4.800 GT/s)

Overclocking gods, please tell me why BIOS loves this but win7 does not?

Thank you in advance!

-SeriousGamer

 

[MIAHALLEN]

Yeah....you need more Vcore for 4.4GHz

 

[SeriousGamer]

Yeah....you need more Vcore for 4.4GHz

Thanks for the welcome!

The ultimate goal here is to get to 4.8Ghz with stability, Im able to boot windows at 4.0Ghz, but prime95 crashes with stop 124. I read that means it needs more QPI but I'm somewhat confused on what needs to be adjusted with that.

Thanks!

 

[Ronbert]

Thanks for the welcome!

The ultimate goal here is to get to 4.8Ghz with stability, Im able to boot windows at 4.0Ghz, but prime95 crashes with stop 124. I read that means it needs more QPI but I'm somewhat confused on what needs to be adjusted with that.

Thanks!

Did you try that Vcore adjustment yet? If not give that a try first and give us a report back big guy

Also, to OC Forums!

 

[SeriousGamer]

Did you try that Vcore adjustment yet? If not give that a try first and give us a report back big guy

Also, to OC Forums!

Thanks! You guys are all so very nice in comparison to some of the other 31337ist forums I've visited!

How much more?

I thought I read that 1.375 was the max Vcore one should use? should I adjust any other factors?

Thanks,
SeriousGamer

 

[SeriousGamer]

I made the Vcore adjustment, still can't get it to boot into Windows.

In the meantime @4GHZ, what is the safe temp for this chip? I ran a small fft prime95 for a very short time and hit 79!

Idle temps are 46, is this too high?

Here is the link to the CPUZ validation

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1074618

I greatly appreciate all of the assistance. I'm just trying to get this thing dialed in so I can enjoy it

-SeriousGamer

 

[Ronbert]

I made the Vcore adjustment, still can't get it to boot into Windows.

In the meantime @4Ghz, what is the safe temp for this chip? I ran a small fft prime95 for a very short time and hit 79!

Idle temps are 46, is this too high?

Here is the link to the CPUZ validation

http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=1074618

I greatly appreciate all of the assistance. I'm just trying to get this thing dialed in so I can enjoy it

-SeriousGamer

It's hard for me to give you a straight answer on that one as I don't have much experience with the i series. However my E5200's highest operational temp. is 75-79C so if I were you I would first check to see if you have a good enough cooler and if the sink is applied correctly. Though from the sounds of it I'm sure you already did those two correctly so it's hard for me to say if that's acceptable for your chip or not.

Little Edit here, I checked around and according to a couple other people it would seem 79C on load @4GHZ is actually fine. Though I would of course wait for someone here to confirm that before settling.

 

[baris_]

Too jealous.. Sorry.

I'm kidding. Just had to say you have a sick rig right there and I wish you good luck in overclocking it!

 

[SeriousGamer]

Updated Specs.... still unstable, any advice?

Too jealous.. Sorry.

I'm kidding. Just had to say you have a sick rig right there and I wish you good luck in overclocking it!

Thanks man, this was my first build in quite some time and I can say the "game" has definitely changed A LOT! I just bought what seemed to be the best parts I could get my hands on and hoped for the best!

Hey All,

Been working at it some more, and have managed 4.2 but not stable almost instant BSOD with prime95

Here are the updated bios settings, any tips on where to go from here would be appreciated. Still looking for 4.6Ghz Stable if I can get there. If not, is 4.4Ghz too much?

I realize now that 5Ghz is probably not attainable without a more extreme cooling option, 4.6 seems like the very top and 4.4 seems reasonable. Is that accurate?

[B]Frequency Control[/B]
CPU Clock Ratio (21X) 
CPU Host Frequency (Mhz) (200) 
MCH Strap (Auto) 
CPU Uncore Frequency (Mhz) (Auto) 
CPU Clock Skew (0 ps)
Spread Spectrum (Disabled) 
PCIE Frequency (Mhz) (100)

[B]Memory Feature[/B]
Memory Speed (Standard) 
Memory Control Setting (Enabled) 
Memory Frequency (1067Mhz / 2:8) 
Channel Interleave Setting (6 Way) 
Rank Interleave Setting (4 Way) 
Memory Low Gap (Auto) 
tCL Setting ( 9 ) 
tRCD Setting ( 9 ) 
tRP Setting ( 9 ) 
tRAS Setting ( 24 ) 
tRFC Setting ( 88 ) 
Command Rate ( 2t )

[B]Voltage Control [/B]
EVGA VDroop Control (Without VDroop) 
CPU VCore (1.35000v) 
CPU VTT Voltage (+300mv) 
CPU PLL VCore (1.905v)
IOH PLL VCore (Auto) 
QPI PLL VCore (1.325v) 
DIMM Voltage (1.65v) 
IOH VCore (1.325v) 
IOH/ICH I/O Voltage (1.625v) 
ICH VCore (1.225v) 
VTT PWM Frequency (490 KHZ) 
CPU PWM Frequency (940 KHZ) 
CPU Impedance (Auto) 
QPI Signal Compensation (Auto)

CPU Feature
Intel SpeedStep (Disabled)
Turbo Mode Function (Disabled) 
CxE Function (Disabled) 
Execute Disable Bit (Disabled) 
Virtualization Technology (Disabled) 
Intel HT Technology (Enabled) 
Active Processor Cores (All) 
QPI Control Settings (Enabled) 
QPI Link Fast Mode (Enabled) 
QPI Frequency Selection (4.800 GT/s)

Thanks,
SeriousGamer

 

[Brutal-Force]

Well, using the i7 920 as a reference point, your first hurdle is understanding that on any processor that no two overclock alike. That being said, most i7s clock in at 4.2-4.4 with the occasional 4.6 and every once in a while a 4.8. Now you do have the EE, but as everyone who is hardcore into overclocking knows, that chip is what all the 920s are based off of. Essentially a 920 is a failed 975EE. Those 920s that overclock to 4.8 are "Not so badly failed EEs". Now you definitely have the set-up to achieve your goals, but you will probably be looking at maxed voltages across the board.

Your Vcore for 4.8 will probably be pushing 1.6V with 1.55V being maximum according to intel. Since at 4.2 your still randomly crashing/failing P95, your 1.35V Vcore is not enough. Most of the "not so great" i7s require a vcore of about 1.4-1.45 for 4.2 especially if other voltages aren't tweaked. Your IMC/Vtt seems also a little low. If your cooling is already screaming at your current settings, you may wanna recheck your cooling heat sinks for flatness/installation. In order to have "headroom" you want your cooling to be at or below 80 while full load with P95.

Just putting your voltages at max is not going to guarantee you 5.0 Overclock.

Think about it like this: The extreme editions are built for those that want to use "Extreme Cooling", water no longer falls into that category. Exteme cooling examples are Liquid Nitrogen, Dry Ice, and Phase Change. These cooling types bring tempertures to sub-zero temperatures. This allows for higher overclocking BECAUSE the processors are thermally limited. Theoretically you could pump many more volts into your processor as long as you could keep the temps at 0 degrees.

As long as your system is pushing 80-90 degree temps you will be limited.